In today’s fast-evolving world, having an online presence is essential to the success of your business. And if you want traffic, you need to invest in search engine optimization or SEO. Many people assume that SEO is similar to advertising, but they are not. SEO allows you to target free or organic traffic, unlike paid advertising.
Just like advertising, however, SEO costs time, energy, and resources. If you have the budget, you can always hire a Tampa SEO agency or consultant. But if you want to learn something new and do things yourself, here’s what you can do to improve your organic rankings:
1. Learn how to research keywords
You need to learn how to perform basic keyword research. While you might know the common jargon in your industry, your target audience might not use the same terms to search for goods or services. This is where keyword research comes in.
Keyword research allows you to gain an insight into the words or phrases that people use to find your services. It also allows you to find out how much and often a particular keyword is searched for. That way, you can limit your keyword use to ones that people use.
2. Check your competition
You do not need to reinvent the wheel. Instead of crafting your SEO strategy, you can just copy what your competitors are doing and maybe even improve on it.
Do not just check your direct competitors. Seek out the most prominent names and brands in your field. Check for where they are succeeding, strategies you can mimic, how they structure their site, how they use keywords, and how they keep people from leaving the page.
3. Organize (or reorganize) your website
Once you have gained an understanding of your competitors’ strategies, the next thing you should do is organize your website. This depends on the type of business you run. For complex backend and frontend organization, you might need to hire designers and developers to do the job.
Make sure that your website is mobile-optimized because most people nowadays search online using their mobile phones. Improved site experience, both on desktop and mobile, will also result in improved search engine results.
4. Update often
You do not have to be as prolific as influencers or content creators, but it is essential to keep your website updated. For blogs, you can post up to twice a week. Web stores should also update prices and descriptions based on demand.
Not all content is text-based. Sometimes, videos and photos count as content as well. Just make sure it makes sense for your niche.
5. Collaborate with other content creators
If you want to reach the front page results, you need to build your website’s link authority. The more sites and pages that link to your website, the more authoritative it is. Buying links is a big no-no, and many search engines penalize the website if found out.
One way to build your authority is to collaborate with other sites and creators. For instance, you can have them post a guest blog, and you can do the same for them. It’s a win-win situation: you gain new content and get more backlinks.
Search engine optimization need not be expensive. Speed is essential in today’s hyperconnected world, and you should always keep abreast of the best and latest SEO practices.
